Welcome to Clark County, Nevada
by csi-jess
Summary: Jess is the new girl on the block. Moving from London to Nevada to start anew. Making new friends and settling in...Well that's a new concept all together. Sandles and OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - I am no way in association with the CSI franchise; I don't own any of the characters except Jess.**

Chapter 1 – It All Begins

Jess was sat in her rental. Her own car would be here next week. Along with the rest of her possessions. That hopefully would fill her less than homely apartment. That for some miraculous reason was in moderately decent condition. Considering it's asking price. She'd slept of most of the jet lag the previous night. After all, any hope of sleep on a Trans-Atlantic flight would be asking too much. With all the screaming kids and cranky parents it was amazing she lasted the crossing. She'd wanted to do nothing more than flash her badge at the hostess and hope they'd be kind enough to upgrade her. But of course life could never be that nice, especially to her. So instead she was now sat in the less than perfect Denali. That had come complete with it's very own dent. Her neck recuperating from it's seemingly constant cramp that had developed on the flight. That's what she got for being a cheap-skate.

Jess had been in Las Vegas for two whole days and she was already finding the desert heat hard to adjust too. London was at least twenty degrees colder. In the middle of summer. And here she was seven pm taking advantage of her air-conditioning. Hours before she'd been sat in her hotel. The only decent thing she'd forked out on upon her arrival in America. Straightening her hair to perfection and scrubbing her teeth of any post-flight gunk was how she'd spent her afternoon. The twenty-five year-old now found herself looking at herself in the pull-down mirror. Checking for anything she may have overlooked. She wasn't exactly the prettiest person the world had ever seen but there was something about her. Something no-one could quite put there finger on. She was above-average height for her age and under-weight. But her high metabolism had something to do with that she could eat dozens of Ben and Jerry's and still have nothing to show for it. Being born and raised in London however had its advantages. She knew how to handle herself. She couldn't handle herself well enough however. And up until now Jess had worked amongst the best in British Forensics only leaving when she was offered a place at the most prestigious lab in the world. Not just Britain or the EU. Nope the world.

This honour had presented itself in the form of letter. The letter that was now scrunched into her khaki bag that lay beside her. She'd taken and passed her fire-arms test days before she arrived and it too was folded away in her bag. Amongst her belongings and general junk. She pulled her beanie out of her bag and settled it onto her auburn hair. She swept her fringe out of her eyes and behind her ear. Of course it seemed as stubborn as she and fell back into place as soon as her hand was removed.

'It's now or never.' She breathed in deeply and pulled her keys from the ignition. As her feet touched the ground her toes curled inside her converse. Locking the car, she walked across the lot and toward the gleaming building. Twilight setting across the steadily cooling desert.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer – **See previous chapter for Disclaimer

**A/N – **Thanks to Ms.CSI and Futuremisscsi60 for the reviews and I'm glad you enjoyed it. So onwards with this tale.

Chapter 2 – Collision

Tentatively Jess pushed the door to allow her to gain entry to the lab she hoped to become familiarized with. She was shoved backward and forward before she'd even stepped into the reception. A man roughly her height ran down the corridor. His lab coat streaming behind him. Amongst the chaos Jess was stood her bag balancing dangerously on her shoulder, she was as unsure now as she had been upon her entry as of where she should be going.

'Watch...' The voice was cut out as two people tumbled to the floor. Jess was sprawled on her back, her bag and it's contents in a circle around her. The man who had run into her stood, brushing his jeans down and offered her a hand.

'I'm really sorry.' She took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up.

'It's alright.'

'Your not from around her are you.' His mouth turned into a crooked smile.

'Busted. No, actually I'm not. Jess Thomas.' Jess bent to scoop her stuff back into her bag, still trying to avoid the people who continued to bustle around her and the mysterious stranger.

'Well hello Jess. Greg Sanders.' He crouched to help her clean the mess he'd created.

'I'm...erm...sure you have somewhere to be.' Her bag now packed again the two stood.

'Actually yeah I do. See you around.' He nodded and ran off again. _Well that was strange._ Jess mumbled to herself. A break in the crowd gave her the necessary means to get to the desk which stood before her. Running slightly in order to make the most of this opportunity. Holding her bag to her shoulder she placed her free hand onto the desk.

'Hi.' She spoke the one syllable word with little enthusiasm, her nervousness doing nothing to ease her into the situation at hand.

'Welcome to the Las Vegas Crime Lab. How can I help you.' The kindly faced women behind the desk smiled at her.

'I'm the new graveshift CSI.' She spoke quietly. But just loud enough for the women to hear.

'Oh yes. Jessica Thomas. Your early. If you want to take a seat over there.' She pointed to a row of seats in the corner.

'I'll make sure one of your new colleagues takes you to see Mr. Grissom.' Jess smiled.

'Thanks.' She stepped away from the desk. The shift change had obviously just finished and the traffic around her was now at a minimal. The receptionist picked up the phone and started talking animatedly into it. Moments later a tell brunette a few inches shorter than Jess walked up to her.

'Hey you must be Jessica.' Jess stood and smiled.

'Yeah. But it's Jess, never Jessica. And Hi.' She held out a hand for it to be shook.

'Well Jess. I'm Sara Sidle. Labs official insomniac.' Jess couldn't help but grin at this last comment.

'I know the position well.'

'I bet you do. Come on. Oh. And Welcome to Clark County, Nevada. I hope you enjoy your stay. It's hell out here.'


End file.
